Disposable container



June 16, 1964 c, MILTON 3,137,438

DISPOSABLE CONTAINER Filed Aug. 29, 1961 Y INVENTOR 65517225 Mz'lion 24 I I I ATTORNEW United States Patent 3,137,458 DISPOSABLE CONTAINER Charles J. Milton, 266 Palermo Ave., Coral Gables,.Fla.. Filed Aug. 29, 1961, Ser. No. 134,751 2 Claims. (Cl. 229-625) This invention generally relates to a disposable liquid container, and, more particularly, to a plastic container having a unique inlet tube and hanger strap therefor.

Prior to this invention, disposable bags of the charac-. ter herein described employed bulky and expensive strap means which were unattractive, ditlicult to handle, and which often had sharpcorners which could harmfully tear open the bag.

The disposable bag of this invention employs a unique construction wherein the hanger strap and inlet tube are formed integrally with the main container. The structure thus obtainedis attractive, extremely light, and easily adapted for storage prior to its use. A container employing this new hanger strap and inlet tube construction can be produced in one, inexpensive operation.

The disposable liquid container described herein is mainly for use by. hospital patients or the like as a receptacle for urine or other waste products of the human body. The container may. be fastened to-the leg of an ambulant patient by means of the hanger strap described herein. The tube extending into the container serves as aone-way valve for receiving the discharged liquid, but will prevent a backup of the liquid to the patient as he walks or moves about. Alternatively, the bag may also be suspended from the side of the bed in a conventional manner.

The disposal liquid container is formed with an opening at one end thereof adapted to receive the inlet tube and strap means therein: The inlet tube and strap combination is composed of a pair of rectangular plastic sheets of similar width, one of these having a considerably greater length than the other. These are placed in overlying relation such that their respective ends lie adjacent one another, and are secured together along their longitudinal edges, thus forming a tube member. The portion of the longer strip which extends beyond the tube member is folded back upon itself, and the structure thus formed is inserted within the container opening. At this point, a sheet of insulating material is inserted within the tube member, and the tube and strap structure is Welded to the container in an operation which entirely seals the container opening except for the tube extending therethrough. The strip of insulating material is then removed and the finished product resulting is the disposable liquid container of the present invention.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved disposable plastic liquid container having a unique valve and strap therefor.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a disposable urine bag having a container member with an opening at one end thereof and having a plastic tube and strap combination secured within the opening in one simple operation.

A further object of this invention is the provision of a combination strap and inlet tube arrangement comprising a first rectangular plastic sheet placed in overlying relation with a second, considerably longer, rectangular, plastic sheet and secured thereto along the longitudinal edges thereof.

Still another object of this invention is the unique method of attaching an inlet tube and hanger to the open end of the plastic container in one simplified operation.

Yet a further object of this invention is the method of placing a first rectangular strip of plastic material upon a 3,137,438 Patented June 16, 1964 second longer strip inparallel coextensive relation, welding the first strip to the second strip along the longitudinal edges thereof thereby forming a tube member, in-. serting. a. strip of insulating .material within the tube member, :folding the; second plastic strip back upon itself, inserting the structure thus formed within the open end of the plastic container, securingzthe-tubetmember to the plastic container, and sealingithe end of thecontainer. 1

Other objects and advantages will become more; apparentupon reading the following" specificationand appended'claims when taken with the drawings,.in whichz' FIGURE 1 is a frontelevational view 'ofa disposable liquid container employing. the novel inlet tube and strap arrangement of the present invention;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the present inven-. tion partially cut away alonglines2-2 of'FIGURE 1;" FIGURE 3 is a cut-away view taken along lines 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 4 is aperspectiveview showing thezrectangular sheets of plastic material prior to their beingsecured together to form theitube and strap arrangement of the present invention; and,

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view showing av modified form of the disposable container having a hose extending within the'inlet tube and-held in place by means of an adhesive strip. 7

Referring now to the drawings, the disposable liquid container of'the present invention is-generally indicated at 10, having-the unique valve and-strap arrangement'lZ mounted thereto. The container structure 10 includes amain bag member 14 of plastic material, such as polyethylene or other suitable material, which is shown-here. as being of an extruded character, although it is notnecess-arily limited to this form-of manufacture. The bottom of the bag 14-is sealedas along the line 16-bythe application of. heat or by any other suitable means. Y

The valve and hanger strap arrangement 12 consists of a first generally rectangular, plastic sheet 18 and a second generally rectangular, plastic sheet 20 having approximately the same width as the sheet 18, but being substantially longer than the first plastic sheet. Sheet 18 is placed in overlying position upon sheet 20, as shown in FIGURE 4, such that the respective transverse ends 22 and 24 rest in aligned position. The sheets are then secured together along their longitudinal edges, as indicated at 26 and 28, preferably by means of heat welding, although it is understood that other methods of engagement might be employed. The structure thus formed includes the tube or valve member 30 and portion 32 of the second Y plastic sheet 20 extending beyond the valve.

The extended portion 32 is folded, as at 34, back upon itself, and the structure thus formed is inserted within the open end of the bag 14. A rectangular sheet 36 of heat insulating material, such as aluminum foil or the like, is inserted within the tube 30.

In my preferred embodiment, suitable heating elements, which form no part of the present invention, are employed to seal the top of the bag structure along the edges 38 and 40, and the valve and hanger arrangement 12 is secured to the bag 14 in the same operation. The sheet 36 of insulating material serves to prevent closure of the valve 30 during this operation, and, further, acts to distribute the heat over the surface 42 to be welded in order to assure a more complete connection between the plastic sheets. Although I prefer to seal the bag and secure the valve and hanger arrangement thereto by means of heat applied to the plastic material, it should be understood that other closure methods, such as gluing the elements together, would also fall within the scope of this invention.

Upon completion of this operation, the sheets 36 of insulating material may be removed from the tube member 30. At this point a container is provided which is completely sealed except for the tube member 30 which extends into the bag member 14. This bag is also formed with the strap 42 securely attached thereto, which will serve to support the bag wherever desired. The valve member 39 generally permits the how of fluid in only one direction, that is, to the interior of the bag 14. As fluid is introduced within the bag, the air pressure therein is increased so as to press together the sheets 18 and 20 of the tube 39. This prevents the fluid which has previously entered the bag from escaping.

' The plastic container may also be supplied with a strip of pressure sensitive adhesive 44 applied to the strap means 42, adapted to be pressed into sealing engagement with the open end of the valve or tube 36. In this manner, the sterility of the bag is insured by positively sealing the opening. The adhesive 44 can also serve to hold a hose 46 in place within the valve 30 as seen in FIGURE 5. Upon removal of the hose 46 from the valve 3-0, the adhesive strip 44 can once again be pressed into engagement with the end of the tube thereby tightly sealing same.

Such a bag is especially useful for receiving the waste products of a hospital patient since fluid which has previously entered the bag is thus prevented from backing up towards the patient. The bag may be attached, for example, to the leg of an ambulant patient, allowing him to walk or otherwise move about without the anxiety of a back-up of urine.

If desired, it would be within the purview of this invention to provide a second strap means at the opposite end of the container to more securely attach the same to the leg of the wearer. Of course, the strap means 42 might also be used to hang the container from the bed or from any other structure, as desired.

I have, therefore, disclosed a new and improved disposable liquid container having a unique valve and strap arrangement secured thereto. The valve and strap is of a simplified construction which is applied to the container in the same operation which seals the disposable bag. The valve is of the one-way type, making it especial- 1y suitable for use by hospital patients. Furthermore,

disposable bags employing the valve and strap arrangement of the present invention are very inexpensive, pertube and hanger strap, said filling tube and hanger strap comprising two sheets of plastic material of equal width and substantially unequal length, said sheets being secured to one another along the mutually coextend ing edges thereof so as to define a tube open at each end, the longer of said sheets being folded over and secured at the end thereof to said sheet at a point intermediate the ends thereof so as to define a strap, said combined filling tube and hanger strap being secured to the ba g portion so that the tube communicates with the interior of the bag and the strap positioned so as to provide a hanging support for the bag.

2. A disposable container as in claim 1 wherein a strip of pressure sensitive adhesive tape is positioned on said combined filling tube and hanger strap at one end of said tube so as to provide a means to selectively constrict the tube between a fully open position and a fully closed position.

ReferencesCited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Brady May 23, 1933 1,910,789 2,682,902 Metzger July 6, 1954 2,696,342 Toborg Dec. 7, 1954 2,738,916 Peters Mar. 20, 1956 FOREIGN PATENTS 94,813 Norway Aug. 15, 1959' 

1. A DISPOSABLE CONTAINER COMPRISING A LIQUID RECEIVING PLASTIC BAG PORTION AND A COMBINED FILLING TUBE AND HANGER STRAP, SAID FILLING TUBE AND HANGER STRAP COMPRISING TWO SHEETS OF PLASTIC MATERIAL OF EQUAL WIDTH AND SUBSTANTIALLY UNEQUALLENGTH, SAID SHEETS BEING SECURED TO ONE ANOTHER ALONG THE MUTUALLY COEXTENDING EDGES THEREOF SO AS TO DEFINE A TUBE OPEN AT EACH END, THE LONGER OF SAID SHEETS BEING FOLDED OVER AND SECURED AT THE END THEREOF TO SAID SHEET AT A PONT INTERMEDIATE THE ENDS THEREOF SO AS TO DEFINE A STRAP, SAID COMBINED FILLING TUBE AND HANGER STRAP BEING SECUREDTO THE BAG PORTION SO THAT THE TUBE COMMUNICATES WITH THE INTERIOR OF THE BAG AND THE STRAP POSITIONED SO AS TO PROVIDE A HANGING SUPPORT FOR THE BAG. 